Shut your mouth! [Yata Misaki x Reader]

Chapter 15: First steps

          A box was lying in the middle of the empty room, covered with dust. It looked like it had been abandoned for quite some time. With curiosity, [Y/N] approached it and crouched down. On the top, a small drawn dragon began to flap its wings. Surprised, [Y/N] reached out and ran her hand along the edge of the box, pondering whether or not to open it.

          A childish giggle reverberated through the room, and she turned in its direction, trying to find its source. There, by the door, stood a little boy dressed in mourning clothes who looked vaguely familiar. Seeing the young girl looking at him, the little boy smiled and pointed to the box.

          “You should open it.”

          She hesitated for a few moments and finally decided to obey him. Something told her that she should listen to what the boy said.

          She woke up with a strange feeling in her chest. What had happened? Little unconnected snippets of her dream kept haunting her mind. However, she was unable to remember what was in that box. There was a boy... The boy! It was the same as when he had had the nightmare about Ryu! That was odd, very odd. Could that be what Fushimi was referring to?

          Knowing that she would not get back to sleep as long as she kept thinking about it, she decided to go outside to get some air.

-   -   -   -   -

         The sun had just risen when the young woman decided to return to HOMRA. After much thought, she had come to the conclusion that the dream could have been just the result of the worry from the past few days, so for the time being, she would not say anything to Fushimi.

          As she entered HOMRA, she couldn't hold back a smile and put aside thoughts of her strange dream. Sitting at the counter, a flustered and blushing Yata was asking Izumo if he knew where she had gone.

          “She's right behind you” answered the blond, pointing at her with his chin as he had his hands busy placing some bottles.

          The red-haired man looked towards the door, and his blush became even more pronounced when he saw the girl. He kept remembering how she had kissed him the day before and wanted her to do it again. However, he had to remember that he was angry with her, so —trying to put on his best angry face— he got up and started walking towards her.

          “What part of 'it's better if you don't go out by yourself' don't you understand?”

          “Yata, I just went for a walk. I couldn't sleep and didn't want to wake you up”, she explained.

          “You should have woken me! You know it's not safe for you!”

          [Y/N] sighed. Where had this overprotective Yata come from? Had they gone from arguing on a daily basis to the boy nagging her? She was flattered that he cared about her, but sometimes she felt like he was overreacting a bit.

          “I doubt anyone would wake up at 6 a.m. to kidnap me. Besides, I've been to the park… next door”. 'Shit, shit, shit'. She had just given herself away, and from the look the red-haired man was giving her, he had realized it too.

         “6:00 a.m.! It's 9:00 a.m., [Y/N]! Do three hours seem like a short time to you? What if…?”

          “Agh, just shut up already. I was sleeping”, complained Mikoto, coming down the stairs. “Why are you making so much noise so early in the morning?”

          “Love, Mikoto, love”, replied Izumo, smiling. “Our little lovebirds are having their first discussion as a couple. Don't you think it's lovely?”

          “W-We're n-not a couple!”

          [Y/N] looked at Yata, who seemed to be on the verge of a heart attack. Although she felt her cheeks burning, she was sure that next to him, her flush was nothing more than a light pinkish blush.

          “Oh, is that so? Then…” Izumo grinned mischievously as he grabbed something from under the counter, “How do you explain this?”

          She had to open and close her mouth several times before she could speak. Why did Izumo have those pictures? Where had they come from? In one of them, she was hugging the red-haired man while he slept, and in the other one, they were kissing. One thing was sure, neither she nor Yata had taken those pictures.

          “T-That's n-not…” Yata was trying hard to find a plausible explanation, but he was too nervous. He had never been so embarrassed in his whole life and felt like he was going to explode. Why had they been photographed?

          On her part, [Y/N] took a couple of breaths, trying to calm down. Making up an excuse would be useless; sooner or later they were going to find out, and the pictures left little room for doubt. However, she wasn't going to sit idly by when she was pretty sure who the culprit was. Seemingly calm, the young woman caught her breath once more and stood at the foot of the stairs.

          “TATARAAA!”

-   -   -   -   -

          “Where is Yata?” she asked, surprised not to see the skateboarder when she returned to the bar. As usual, she had been unable to get angry with Tatara.

          “He's gone to hide in his room”, Izumo complained. He wanted to keep bothering the boy some more, but he had run away as soon as [Y/N] had left.

          She sighed dejectedly. Knowing Yata, it was possible that he wouldn't want to leave his room for several days, so he wouldn't have to endure Izumo's teasing. Somewhat worried, she went to the boy's room and knocked for him to let her in. Getting no answer, she opened the door to find Yata sitting on the bed with his back to her.

          “I'm sorry I didn't wake you up,” she said in an attempt to engage him in conversation.

          “D-Don't worry,” he replied without looking at her, and she rolled her eyes. He was acting like a child.

          “You could at least look at me. It's kinda awkward to talk to your back”, she said, sitting down next to him.

         The skater remained silent for a few seconds, seeking something to say. Everything he could think of sounded too silly. Finally, [Y/N] was the first to break the silence.

          “D-Does it bothers you?” Yata looked at her blankly. “You know, that they think we're a couple.”

          “I-It's not that. I know w-we are not b-but you kissed me” Now it was her turn not to understand what he wanted to say.

          “Is that what bothers you? You seemed to want it too”. Is that why he ran off after the kiss? She had thought it was out of embarrassment, but now she wasn't so sure.

          “Y-yes. I mean n-no. Well, y-yes I wanted to and n-no I don't mind. I-I liked it. The thing is... Ugh!”

          Yata raised his hands above his head in frustration. Why did he have to stammer like an idiot in front of her now? The girl's eyes looked at him in confusion. Tired of the words not coming out, Yata plucked up his courage and gave her a chaste peck on the lips, trying to convey with it what he wanted to say. He wanted to be at her side.

          When the red-haired man pulled away, she blushed, bringing a hand to her lips. Yata had kissed her on his own volition. It had been a brief kiss, but coming from him, that was too much. Happy, the girl wrapped her arms around him and closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth he radiated. It was hard for both of them to say out loud what they felt, but they let it show with their gestures.